PHILADELPHIA – Dan Campbell’s play-calling wasn’t the magic elixir the Detroit Lions needed to beat one of the best teams in the NFL.
Jalen Hurts scored the Philadelphia Eagles’ only touchdown on a 1-yard “tush push” play, and the Lions went 0-for-5 on fourth-down attempts in their second game since Campbell assumed offensive play-calling duties, losing for the third time in five games, 16-9, to the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.
Philadelphia (8-2) stays atop the NFC, while the Lions (6-4) drop to eighth in the NFC playoff standings and third in the NFC North.
The nine points were the Lions’ fewest since a 38-6 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 7 of the 2023 season.
Last week, with Campbell calling plays for the first time in place of offensive coordinator John Morton, the Lions beat the three-win Washington Commanders, 44-22.
The Lions struggled to sustain drives all night against an Eagles defense that is now among the best in the NFL.
Jared Goff, who entered the week tops in the NFL with a 74% completion percentage, was 14 of 37 passing (37.8% completion rate) for 255 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He failed on 16 of his final 18 attempts. The Lions converted just 3 of 13 third downs and failed on a fake punt try in their own territory.
Then, down 16-6 in the fourth quarter with 5:12 to play, Campbell punted on fourth-and-10 from the Lions’ 42.
Amon-Ra St. Brown had two catches for 42 yards on 12 targets, and the running game had 21 attempts for 74 yards (3.5 yards per carry).
The Lions host the New York Giants (2-9) at 1 p.m. next Sunday at Ford Field to begin a three-game homestand.
Here are three thoughts on Sunday’s Lions loss:
Tough sledding
The Lions likely will have to go through Philadelphia again to reach Super Bowl 60, and judging by Sunday’s game, I’m not sure how equipped they are to do so.
The Eagles won this in the trenches, shutting down the Lions’ running game with their menacing defensive line and making it tough for the offense to move the ball.
The Lions played well defensively and wind was a major contributing factor to the offensive struggles. But as bad as Philadelphia looked on offense at times, I thought they were the better team.
The Eagles and Rams are tied for the No. 1 seed in the NFC, but the Eagles have now beaten four NFC contenders: the Rams, Bucs, Packers and Lions. The Lions are two games back of the Eagles, but three with the tiebreaker.
That’s a big hole to dig out of with seven games to play, even if the Lions visit the Rams on Dec. 14 in Week 15.
If the Lions win the NFC North – they’re a game behind Ben Johnson’s Chicago Bears (7-3) in the standings and a half-game back of Green Bay (6-3-1) – they’ll likely need to win on the road twice in the playoffs, at Los Angeles and in a weather game in Philadelphia, to advance to their first-ever Super Bowl.
Jameson Williams TD celebration gaffe
Williams has to be smarter.
Williams gave the Lions’ struggling offense a huge jolt late in the first half with a 40-yard catch-and-run touchdown, and then his silly penalty allowed the Eagles to take momentum right back.
Williams was flagged for a celebration penalty when he jumped on the goal post Spider-Man-style after he crossed the goal line with the Lions’ first points of the game. The 15-yard penalty was enforced on the extra point, and Jake Bates missed the 48-yard kick wide right into a swirling wind.
Williams has been an enigma through much of his four seasons in Detroit. He’s a freakish talent, but moments of immaturity have cost him and the team, and Sunday’s penalty was another example.
It’s not the reason the Lions lost the game, but on a night where points were at a premium and the Lions needed a victory to boost their chances of getting the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs, it was a mindless mistake.
The Eagles scored on the next possession to take a 13-6 lead into halftime and never trailed.
Push it real good
Officially, the Eagles were 1-for-4 on “tush push” plays Sunday, and while their only conversion went for a touchdown just before halftime, the Lions had more success against the play than anyone since Philadelphia made it part of the football lexicon a few years ago.
The Eagles passed on a “tush push” attempt in favor of a traditional running play on their first third-and-1 of the game, choosing not to sneak Hurts into the Lions’ 1,300 pounds of mass in the middle of their defensive line – DJ Reader, Tyleik Williams, Roy Lopez and Alim McNeill.
The Lions got a stop on Saquon Barkley on that play for a 1-yard loss, they stuffed a traditional “tush push” attempt for no gain in the fourth quarter, they stopped two more sneaks with about 3 minutes to play – the second, an act of hubris by Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, kept the Lions in the game – and they foiled two more potential “tush push” plays on false starts by the Eagles.
Guard Tyler Steen was called for a false start for slapping at Williams’ hand in the neutral zone on Philadelphia’s first possession of the second half, and rookie receiver Darius Cooper moved early before a fourth-and-1 snap after the failed third-down conversion, forcing a punt.
In this game, at least, the “tush push” turned out to be much ado about nothing, and everyone clamoring for it to go away should take note.
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lions offense bullied by Eagles in 16-9 loss to drop out of NFC playoffs
Reporting by Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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